This invention relates generally to hopper tees, as used in bulk material handling, and more specifically pertains to a hopper tee that is reinforced to provide a padding to resist against abrasion and premature wear to the tee at those locations were granular material excessively impinges against during unloading of a tank trailer, hopper car, or the like.
Hoppers, or tank trailers, regularly transport bulk commodities such as industrial and food products, and even such abrasive materials such as sand, or other pelletized materials. When the hopper, or tank trailer, reaches its destination, the bulk commodity is unloaded, typically by a power takeoff driven from a truck mounted blower or a pneumatic system of a plant or factory. The bulk commodity generally unloads from the hopper and into a pipeline. To complete the unloading, hopper tees are mounted to the discharge outlet of the hoppers, or bins, the hopper tee conventionally has a vertical section of constant dimension and shape and a horizontal section also of consistent dimension and shape forming the inverted tee shape configuration. To transfer the bulk commodity, the materials move out of the hopper, or bin, by gravity flow or air pressure vibration into the vertical section of the hopper tee. The discharge pipe is connected to the horizontal section of the tee. Pneumatic conveyance of the bulk material through the pipe occurs by establishing a pressure differential in the pipe. Usually, the prior art hopper tees have a complete, one piece assembly that includes a vertical section, connecting to a hopper, and a horizontal section, connecting to a discharge pipe. The prior art hopper tee design fits on the bottom of the bins of pneumatic tank trailers. Typically, the butterfly valve of the bin bolts to the flange of the hopper tee. Although, prior art hopper tees function well for their intended purposes, some tees are structured where the granular material being unloaded will impinge upon specific surfaces of the tee, under pressure, and has a tendency to cause abrasion, if not eventual wear through of the tee at these active locations of the tee structure.